Crossover
by ManiacalBliss
Summary: Okay... so can you take a guess at where I am? I bet your guesses would all be way off. Because you know what? I'm in a 'mental health clinic'. You wanna know why? Because I went beserk a -bad mistake- after my mom told me I'm a vampire. more inside--
1. Chapter 1: Conflicts without Resolutions

Why was the world so …confusing? Filled with riddles and problems we had to resolve. No one's life could go perfectly smoothly, but who would expect that? I was just thinking about these things since I learned people can be pretty harsh. I had to ask these questions, especially about the people making the problems, who inhabited this world –my life right now.

I'd learned long ago that people like to ruin other people's lives to make themselves feel better. Plain and simple. And normally the victims of these kinds of situations, like me, would most likely live horribly for the rest of their lives. I didn't know yet if this would happen, but it most likely would. Maybe I was being a little dramatic, but I had a feeling I wasn't. And maybe, yes, my thoughts _were_ a little melodramatic. But from the events over the last few days… well to say the least I was jaded and in a bad spot.

And all I could think was with the people I knew, making my life a living hell was entirely possible, because they'd basically already done it. But I suppose things could be worse…

Anyone could tell from my actions and thoughts today that I was having a bad day. Or week. Or month. Or maybe even a few months, when it all began.

It all started a few months ago on my seventeenth birthday, December 26. Everything changed. Only a few weeks before, I had been one of the most popular guys at school. I had a girl friend, friends, but all that went down the drain, disappeared from me in an instant. I smirked as I thought that –the statement 'fame doesn't last forever' was completely and utterly true.

I knew I started out weird as a child. I never took naps, and I hardly slept at all. Even today. Same went with food. And I was always stronger and faster at school than the other kids, but no one really took notice. There was always one faster kid at school, right?

And then there was my skin. I always had clear skin. Everyone said I was more attractive then any other guy at school. I never took it as a compliment, though, because that just set me apart even more from every one else.

True, it hadn't been that bad when I was younger. But by my seventeenth birthday is when everything really went weird.

First my blood pressure dropped, which resulted in very cold, pale skin. But I functioned properly all the same. My mom, Ellen, didn't take me to the doctor. It almost seemed like she knew what was happening, but she would never tell me if she did or not. I bothered her almost constantly every day to tell me what was going on but she would never budge.

Monica Haines, my now ex-girlfriend I guess, first noticed how cold I was since she was the only person who really touched me.

She questioned one day when we were holding hands, why my hand was so cold. I brushed it off, telling her that I just had really cold hands that day… When the truth really was, I had cold hands every day.

Then, oh joy, in gym it became a regular activity to take our blood pressure. It was also a part of our mark.

And guess what? Mine was seventy over thirty five: very, very low. And yet I was still standing, walking and talking like a perfectly functional human being. But nonetheless, it alarmed people.

They thought it was just a glitch in the machine, but after they tried out a few more on me… well they knew it wasn't a glitch, or I was just a freak and made every electronic I touched malfunction.

My gym teacher was getting worried, or rather, more frantic than she already was, since she had taking our blood pressure everyday as a routine, and mine was getting lower and lower everyday. Only by a few beats, but it was getting lower everyday.

And then one day she phoned my mom and told her to come pick me up, saying that if I didn't get medical attention she would get it for me herself. Mom refused for some reason, and the teacher phoned an ambulance.

It was the most embarrassing day of my life. People were crowded around me, asking if I was okay or not. I was fine. Absolutely fine. There was no need to phone an ambulance. I was absolutely functional: no, I didn't feel woozy, and no, I wasn't going to be sick…

That was in February. Now it was April. And this morning I had got sent to the hospital because, apparently, my heart stopped. And I was awake throughout the whole experience, and didn't pass out, though I almost did, and I didn't show any sick signs. True, it did hurt a little, but other than that I was ok.

In the hospital, after many examinations, I heard the doctors in the hall, behind a wall and a door talking about how I was a phenomenon. Probably because only a few minutes after it had stopped, and I was still standing, it had restarted faintly, sending another little jolt of pain through me.

Of course an ambulance was immediately called, and of course the whole school had heard the story and gave me peculiar stares as I was loaded onto a stretcher and into the back of an ambulance.

My mom didn't even know until a few hours later, and came right away, screaming that I was not to be here without her consent… screaming at the doctors of course.

She had been acting stranger and stranger over the past few weeks. She definitely knew something, but wasn't telling.

My step-father didn't seem too concerned. So Ellen had obviously not told him.

Yes, I did have a step-father. Ellen said that my real dad disappeared when I was born. And that's all I was told about him. I had never asked any more.

She had met Andrew only a year after I was born. And he had been in my life ever since. If I hadn't been told he was not my real father, I would've never known. His hair was almost the same shade of reddish-brown mine was –like a burgundy colour, and although his hair was cut much shorter than mine, it was pretty much the same.

It was familiar that hair fell into my face and eyes, and I always try to push it away, but it never worked.

Andrew also had the same build as me, but he was a bit more muscular. Our facial features weren't quite the same, but they were pretty close. The only huge differences were that my eyes were blue, almost like violets as my mom or old girlfriend said, and his were dark brown. And I had really pale skin as a result to low blood pressure.

Well, now it was almost dinner-time, and only a couple hours earlier when everyone got off school, Monica called me and broke up with me, telling me I was too much of a freak. I wasn't that upset about it; it hadn't really been working out for both of us. We got in fights all the time about the stupidest things.

Right away I knew if Monica thought I was a freak, everyone would think I was a freak. Most of Monica's friends were my friends. And everyone followed her. She was the queen bee; a sheep herder if you will. She was everything the most popular girl in the school should be; blond, blue eyes, perfect clear skin, thin, had an amazing figure… But she was amazingly stupid and didn't have much of an original mind. I didn't even remember the reason why I had asked her out.

But because she had broken up with me, I would be the least popular guy in school, have next to no friends, and be called a freak all the time since the reason she had broken up with me was that she herself thought I was a freak. It was only a stupid medical issue! Something I could not control. Why of all people did this _have_ to happen to me?

"Avery! It's dinner time." Ellen called from down stairs, bringing me back down to Earth. I sighed.

Dinner was usually something only Ellen and Andrew attended, and I would stay up here and mull over things. Ellen only called me to dinner when she wanted to talk to me about something. There was no excuse for me to skip dinner, and our conversation.

Rolling out of bed, I grabbed a sweater and pulled it on over my school uniform that I hadn't thought to change out of yet.

Then I ran down the stairs, ignoring the fact that I was traveling way faster then normal.

When I first noticed that, I was at school, and was running to meet Monica in the parking lot. I almost hit a car that was backing up: a car that I thought would be out of that particular spot long before I would get there. It missed me by inches, but I had gotten weird looks from everyone. Why couldn't I just be normal?

Within seconds, I was in the cozy kitchen, sitting down on the opposite end of the bar stool counter where we would eat. Surprisingly, there was a plate in front of me filed with steak, mashed potatoes, macaroni, and Caesar salad. I had no idea why Ellen would put a plate out for me; she knew I wouldn't eat anything.

Ellen sat on my right side, while Andrew was on my right. He ate steadily while Ellen played with her food thoughtfully –obviously brooding.

I sat patiently looking at her, waiting for her to start talking.

She sighed quietly, her eyes shaded, still looking at her food.

"Eat your food, Ave. We'll talk later, after we're done." I just looked at her disbelievingly. She wanted me to eat?

"I'm not hungry," My voice was so low it was hard to hear. Ellen heard though, and shook her head.

"Please eat, Avery. You need to." That's all she would say.

Sighing, I began to pick a piece of the salad and chew it slowly, looking at my mom's face all the while. Why exactly did I need to eat? I couldn't really taste anything anymore. It was only faint. Besides, I didn't need it anyway.

Ellen looked pretty awful today… no offence to her. It was just a generality.

She usually wore nice work clothing all the time. She now wore a big baggy faded pink sweater with paint smears all over. Her ripped jeans were also paint smeared. It looked as if she had come back from an art convention.

Then there was how messy her dark brown hair was. It was all frizzy, and piled up on top of her head like a hay stack. Normally she would've brushed it till it was almost straight, then either would leave it down or put it up in a pony tail.

And worst of all were the big purple bags under her eyes. I hadn't noticed them developing over the last few days, or possibly even weeks. She usually looked much younger than she was. The skin on her face was still youthful, so she had no need for make-up to correct wrinkles and such yet. She would use black eye-liner most of the time, but now her face was clear of any make-up. She was usually a fairly attractive woman, but right now in the mood she was in, it wasn't showing. I could see the reason why Andrew loved her so much.

The mood she was in right now did not seem like her at all. True, she was quiet most of the time, and was up for anything I wanted to do, not pushing what she wanted on me. But she was never this quiet, and she was never this depressed. Only on the occasional time she would get depressed.

Thinking about what exactly she wanted to talk about after dinner, I began to pick at my food more, moving on to my macaroni.

But before I could move on to the subject, Andrew broke the silence. It was surprising. He barely talked while eating.

"So, Ave, are you going back to school tomorrow?" I nodded a slow yes. Wasn't that obvious?

He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Well, I'm surprised. After today's incident, I thought you'd probably want to stay home." Shaking my head, I thought of the reasons why I wouldn't stay home. Boring. Boring. And boring. There was nothing to do at home, and even though I didn't like the thought of going to school and receiving everyone's stares, it was better then being home sitting on the couch, or bed watching TV all day.

"You'd better watch yourself at school then. You don't want to go back to the hospital again; your mother had a horrible time getting you out of there." Instantly I felt bad. But I still didn't know why Ellen worked so hard to keep me out of the hospital. I don't think she's had any fears of hospitals in the past.

That was probably the reason why Ellen looked like she did right now, and I felt bad seeing her like that.

Suddenly Ellen got up, her plate somehow free of food that I hadn't seen her eat, and put her plate in the sink. I followed suit, but instead I scraped all my food out. I'd barely touched anything.

Seeing Ellen go out to the spacious white living room, I followed her, and sat down beside her on the huge white couch. She was looking at the floor, away from me, and it took a few minutes for her to begin.

"Ave, I know you've been going through some tough times in school because of your… medical state, and I just want you to know that you can talk to me whenever you need to." She was now looking at my face, waiting for a response before she would continue. I tried not to look embarrassed as best I could, but it was really hard.

"Sure. Thanks…" That's all I managed to get out before she continued.

"What happened today is probably going to happen again. I don't trust the doctors, and I don't want you to let them notice if it happens again. Trust me; I know you'll be perfectly fine. And one more thing; I know you know that I am keeping something from you. I am, and I am not telling you till later. I think you might accept it better later, so just bear with me until then, alright?" Her voice was really strained and gruff by the end of her little speech, and all I could do was nod. I was right; she had been hiding something from me. But I still didn't know what it was, and I desperately needed to know what was happening to me. Was it that bad that when she told me I would be in denial?

She stood up, leaving me pondering on the couch. Before she left, she patted me on the back comfortingly, and smiled apologetically.

"I think I will be able to tell you soon. Don't worry about it too much. Good-night, honey." I resisted the urge to cringe away as she bent down to kiss my forehead.

And I wondered how on earth I would survive tomorrow.

X X X

Afterward, around twelve midnight, I stepped out the house into the fresh Port Alberni air and walked over to the railing, sitting on it so I could swing my legs over the side so I was facing the ocean. A salty breeze brushed my face and I sighed, trying to relax and let my worries go for a minute.

I had lived here my whole life as far as I was aware of. The wilderness and everything about this place was amazing.

Usually I would try to hike every day. My preferred route ran along the edge of the water, and then cut into the forest a bit. It ended at a craggy rock wall that I would have to scale in order to get up to my favorite spot. It was a tiny, tiny clearing, and it looked out onto the water. It was grass covered with a lot of overgrowth, but it still looked beautiful. It was the most peaceful spot to be for me. When you were in the clearing at night, looking out at the water while the moon was shining, it was even more breathtaking.

It had trees surrounding it, but a little dirt path I had made was there, leading deeper into the forest. Most often I would go there. But yet I had never taken anyone up there yet. I hadn't even told anyone about it. It seemed too special, and I just liked to keep things, especially that kind of thing, to myself.

Maybe I should just hang out in the clearing all day and skip school. I didn't really need to worry about missing anything, since I would be able to catch up in no time. Right now, I was probably doing better than most of the students in my grade. I was a fairly good student, so why couldn't I just miss a day…?

Sighing, I realized that would be a mistake. It would be better to face the wrath of the students awaiting me at school sooner than later.

Realizing thinking about this was irritating me; I hopped down from the banister and ran back inside. It probably wouldn't be any good, because I would think about it more inside, but at least there wouldn't be a temptation to skip school by going to my clearing tomorrow.

I exhaled loudly, and jumped off the banister, falling to the grassy ground and taking off into the trees. I would try to sleep tonight, and to do that, I was going to make myself tired.

I ran through the trees as fast as my legs would allow me, and in almost no time I found myself in the clearing, having climbed up the rocky face of it.

I sighed and flopped down onto the ground watching the stars.

Well… I guessed, as I gazed at the stars, the world could be beautiful yet harsh.


	2. Chapter 2: Attack

Well, today was a new day. And hopefully today would be a better day then the last. I definitely did not want a ride in the ambulance to the hospital again, so I would heed my mom's warning and lay low for today, try to blend in.

My regular routine: stop reading around the time I needed to have a shower and get ready for school, then get in my car and start driving to school. No, there was no breakfast. Ever. I barely ever felt hungry anymore.

As usual, I didn't get any sleep last night. After thinking over what my mom told me, and getting too frustrated to think anymore, I picked up a book and began to read. I normally would've been doing homework that late, but since I missed the day I had no idea what there was. Plus no one had come over to give me work, most likely a result of Monica spreading rumors about me. That's what she did to her old boyfriends, and I was no exception to the tradition.

Or maybe the teachers thought they shouldn't give the dying boy homework. I was pretty sure that was the reputation I was receiving from the staff at Port Alberni Secondary School. The gym teacher had apparently told everyone about how low my blood pressure was, and news had spread pretty quickly yesterday that my heart had stopped. Well I guess that's what you get for living in a small town. Everyone knows everything about you since people had nothing else to do but gossip. I guess I know why small towns get that reputation.

Miraculously I was able to burn the time I had before school. I seriously don't know how I did it. It usually seemed like forever before school started in the mornings. Maybe just because I knew I did not want to go to school today to find that everyone was talking behind my back, and I had become the newest circus freak of Port Alberni High is why time seemed to be moving faster.

Now I was doing up my tie in the mirror, looking over my uniform. Well I certainly looked normal. To myself that is. Anyone else would have sworn that I had gotten even paler then the day before… I quickly finished and started to head down the stairs toward my old Honda Accord.

As soon as I stepped outside I could tell it was going to be a rainy day. The air seemed wet; the sky was covered in grey clouds. And all too soon, I felt a water droplet fall on my face.

Running to my car to escape the rain, I unlocked it and jumped inside, starting it as quickly as I could. Just before I sped out of there like I always did in the morning, I sat there and thought about if I should go or not even more. No. I had made a commitment to myself, and I was going to see it through.

It was a fairly short drive to school since I loved to speed.

But as I got to the school parking lot, I began to feel weird, as I had yesterday. There was an icy clenching in my chest, and the back of my throat began to tingle. Coughing, I tried to get rid of the tingling, but it did no good. And, to admit the truth to myself, I was kind of nervous to go to school today. No, actually, scratch that. I was _very_ nervous. I would never admit it out loud, but it was true. This feeling had come the other day before my heart stopped, and it was doing it again. Would the same scenario happen again? I hoped not. If it happened again, I probably wouldn't be coming back to school. There were most likely many rumors about me, and I probably couldn't handle more on top of that. Maybe I couldn't even handle the ones that had already been spread about me, but I didn't know yet.

It all depended what Monica had said about me. I guess that wasn't what I should be worrying about at the moment; what I should be worrying about is how I was going to get through this day with the icy feeling back.

Sighing, I locked the car doors quickly and sprinted across the lot toward the doors, ignoring the stares everyone was giving me from their cars and the people standing on the sidewalks.

I went straight in, not even bothering to say hi to my old friends. By everyone's weird glances I could tell no one would want to talk to me. It was surprising, though, that I hadn't seen Monica and her group yet. She was usually surrounded by a group of kids, walking in whichever direction she went. Like cattle or sheep. It was actually pretty funny if you watched it from a distance.

It was still a few minutes till the bell rang for the first class, so I just hung around outside the door, watching people walk by nonchalantly. Everyone who passed me gave me a strange look. The people that I noticed doing it the most though were my old friends.

Andrew, Conner, Mike…. Many people that used to be my best friends passed me by without so much as a 'hello' or 'hey'. I could only imagine the things that were being said about me… because they certainly were or else everything would be fine and dandy, and no one would be looking at me funny.

The bell rung and I sighed as I started to enter the classroom. Many people pushed past me to get into the room, shoving me into someone who would push me into someone else, like a ball or something.

After everyone was gone from the door and into their seats, I looked for one, seeing only one open seat beside Monica. It was where we usually sat together, and it shocked me for a moment to see that she was sitting there and not with someone else, like one of her many friends.

But then I saw her posture. Her eyes were darting around desperately to find another seat, and she was glaring at a few people who had probably been asked to sit with her, but went to sit with their other friend. It was the most likely answer I could come up with.

I approached her slowly, reminding myself that I would only make things worse if I talked to her, because all I wanted to do at the moment was talk to her and make things right again. But I knew that that would never in my lifetime happen.

By the time I reached my seat, everyone else was seated and staring at me like I was on something. Monica's posture was ramrod straight and tense as I sat down. She shot sideways glances at me, and looked extremely frightened; as if she were going to cry any moment.

I sighed and looked away, not exactly ashamed of myself, but not proud of myself either. I didn't know really what I felt then. All I knew was that I was definitely the freak of the school now.

I didn't spare Monica another glance the whole period in fear that her expression would start making me feel guilty for no reason at all. It wasn't my fault that she was afraid of me. I hadn't done anything to her. And if she thought I was, even if she had done something, said anything bad at all, I wouldn't harm her. If she believed for a second that I would ever try to hurt her over something like this, she didn't know me very well. Maybe she never did know me at all.

The whole class seemed to be as tense as Monica was the whole period. Which was fairly normal, but the emotion for Monica, and everyone else was not normal. Even the teacher seemed surprised about how quiet the class was being.

By the end, I was starting to get irritated. How on earth could I make a class go silent like this? None of it was my fault, so why wouldn't these people just forget about it? How could my condition affect people like this? It wasn't like I was going to attack at any moment. After I thought about it for awhile, these people were creeps and I shouldn't be bothered with them, and their aversion of me.

But despite this, I had already made up my mind to try and talk to Monica after class was finished. It was a vain thought, and I knew I would probably not be able to convince her of her thoughts of me otherwise, but I was going to try and make it right anyway. I had to at least _try._

The bell rang, breaking the tension as everyone hurried to gather their things and get out of the classroom A.S.A.P.

I sighed heavily as I turned to catch Monica before she left. But I ended up staring at an empty chair for about ten seconds before I realized she had already vacated the room and was probably running down the hallway.

Jumping up and out of my chair, I surprised the very few people who were still in the room. In my haste of running after Monica, I left my bag on the desk, thinking I would just come back for it later.

I heard the teacher trying to call me back after I had sprinted out of the room, but I was already too far away, and didn't really care, even though I heard loud and clear.

Pretty much every activity that was going on in the hallway stopped as soon as the people saw me running.

I saw Monica down the hall, and it looked like she had already been warned. She started running full speed down the hall, not caring if she bumped into anyone. Nobody dared to run after her; they saw me coming.

I sped up, not yet at my full speed even if to other people, it looked like it.

Monica was only a few feet away from me now, and the crowd of people was thinning out. Everything seemed in slow motion now.

"Monica, please wait! I only want to talk to you." My voice wasn't breathless like it should have been. Monica on the other hand, sounded winded as she spoke.

"Get… away… from me… you creep!..." I could see her trying to run faster, but it was clear she was exhausted.

I was so close I could almost touch her now. But something had changed… I could _smell _her now.

It didn't smell like perfume or anything – she never wore any of that kind of stuff anyway. It was something different, something luscious…

Suddenly the icy clenching in my chest came back. My eyes widened, my breath came in gasps, I slowed down, and all I could think was, 'oh no… not again…'

The pain made me come to a full stop. Kneeling down on the linoleum floor, I clutched my chest and bowed my head so no one could see my expression. I was mortified and afraid all at once.

Someone's sneakers made a high pitched _squeak_ as they came to a halt.

"Avery?" Someone's scared voice breathed. It was only for me to hear, and I don't know how I heard it in the first place.

The pain became too great for thinking anymore, and I fell to the floor, gasping harder and harder for air.

"Avery!" I felt someone's fiery hot hand touch my icy cold shoulder lightly. The girl yelped as she felt the temperature difference between me and herself. She started shaking me.

"Avery! Avery! Someone help! Call an ambulance."

All noise faded out, and the icy hand gave one last squeeze. What was left of the warmth pumping inside me ceased. My heart stopped, I couldn't hear it anymore; couldn't feel it anymore.

But another one started – the one of the girl closest to me. I could hear others, but they were farther away.

A ripping, burning sensation sparked in the back of my throat. And I lost all sense of sanity.

One of my hands shot from my chest to the hand of the girl that was still placed on my shoulder. I gripped hard – probably too hard for hand to manage. I heard a faint snap and a yelping noise.

"Avery! Avery…?" I started to raise my head slowly, and as soon as the girl caught sight of my face, my eyes, she fell silent.

I didn't know who this was, where I was, or what was happening. The only thing I was focused on was the vein I saw pulsing hot and lively through her neck…

"Avery… what's wrong? What happened?" The girl's words were barely uttered. Her face was horrified, and her eyes were wide like a deer's eyes caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.

There was no room for emotion in me right now. Just… instinct.

"Ave–" She was cut off as I lunged up into a standing position. She shot up too, as soon as she saw me up.

"Run." I whispered. She looked at me like I was crazy – with one eyebrow raised and her frightened eyes questioning.

I started to growl in warning and she took the hint immediately.

For a few seconds I really did want her to run – to get as far away from me as possible, because gruesome, unprovoked thoughts were swirling madly around in my head.

These thoughts mainly consisted of me biting her neck, piercing through that warm, thin skin and…

I couldn't take it anymore.

The girl was about halfway down the hall. And I was by her side in less than a second.

"Ugh!" She huffed as I came to a stop in front of her. She knocked into me, and I sent her flying back a few feet. She turned her head to look where I was only a few seconds earlier.

"How…?" She asked her voice in wonder as she panted. Her face hadn't lost the horror-struck look yet. And it looked like it never would.

I grabbed her torso roughly and pulled her close to me. She struggled, and from what I saw it was very violently, but she wasn't able to move an inch from where I had trapped her in my vice grip. Right then, it barely felt like she was using any of her strength at all.

My fingers were gripped in her soft, glossy blonde hair, and with that hand I pulled her head back using barely any muscle at all, exposing her fair, sun tanned throat.

I could see and hear that vein in her neck pulsing, calling to me….

"I'm… sorry…" was all I could utter. I basically lost my mind. Nothing made sense any more. I was only compelled to… feed.

The girl's heart rate sped up, and it almost seemed like she was going to have an anxiety attack. In my side view of her face, I could see her perfect, gem-like blue eyes were huge with fright, and her mouth wide open as if she were going to scream but no noise came out. Except her breathing, which was exceptionally loud.

I leaned down quickly, and my teeth pierced her fragile neck. A weird gasping sound came from her as I did this.

And in that mere second, when I started feeding, something went wrong.

This time, a fiery hand gripped and squeezed my chest. Within seconds, I felt warmth wash through me.

I let go of the girl, too focused on the pain of the lava flowing inside me. I couldn't hear anyone's heart beat for a moment… until mine started once more. I drew in one huge life giving breath before everything went dark.

†

"Well, there's no doubting he's yours anymore… You know what I want you to do! Even if it hurts me… it's best for him. Please, for his sake…" Ellen's pleading and anxiety stricken voice registered in my mind; the noise that woke me up.

Where was I? What had happened? A million questions immediately started to spin out of control in my head as I became more aware. It seemed my mind was working over-time, and it wouldn't handle thinking about twenty things at once.

"Thank-you… You have no idea what this means to me, Edmond. Good-bye." Ellen said her farewells to someone as my head started to pound from the stress.

"Ugh…" I groaned. Instantaneously I felt someone at my side, wherever that side was, and heard a little controlled gasp.

"Avery! Ave, can you hear me?" Yes, that was definitely Ellen's panicky voice.

"Mom? Where am I? What happened?"

Ellen sighed sadly, and I felt a soft, gentle hand on my face. My eyes still hadn't opened yet, and I rushed to find my eyes.

"You're in a hospital," Her voice was filled with grief and remorse. Well, the only reason I could be in a hospital is if I had one of my attacks again, so I immediately assumed that was why I was here. I sighed, and finally found my eye-lids.

It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the bright whiteness of the room, and then I could finally focus on Ellen's face.

She looked as if she were ready to burst into tears. Her tired, hazel eyes were brimmed with tears. The rest of her face was tense and worried. I frowned at the sight of it.

"What's the matter?" She let out a gusty breath as she stroked her thumb across my face.

"Everything." My frown deepened, and I was about to ask her what she meant by 'everything' but just then someone opened the door.

Ellen had backed away from me in what seemed less than a millisecond and was by the door, talking to someone in less than ten seconds.

"Is he awake? We need to ask him a few questions," A man's voice asked. I adjusted myself so I could see the person the voice was coming from.

"I don't think you should be asking questions just yet, officer. He woke up a moment ago, and he needs to rest more." Ellen was at the door, talking to a police officer. It felt like my whole body froze, and went cold. I had a bad feeling about this.

There was a grunt from the dark-haired officer as he eyed me for a moment, then left.

Ellen was over to my bed than less then a heart beat once more. And I had more than just a few questions to ask her now.

"Why is there a police officer here? And why does he want to talk to me?" I had to work to make my voice sound calm. I felt extreme anxiety all over. Had I done something? Because I couldn't recount a thing I had done… and I usually remember my attacks, too.

She sighed and closed her eyes tightly as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Well… you had one of your episodes again, as you've probably already suspected. But this time you… did something bad. You attacked Monica Haines. Do you remember?" My eyes were wide, and I was searching my brain frantically as I shook my head. Why had I… attacked her? How could I? Even if I had been that angry with her, I would never harm Monica.

"What did I do to her? Is she okay? How bad is she?" Ellen heaved yet another sigh.

"She almost died from blood loss but she's in a stable condition right now." My mouth almost dropped as she said 'she almost died'. But I relaxed just a bit when I heard she was in a stable condition. But how could I not remember almost _killing_ Monica?

Even though I was trying desperately to comb through my memories and find any memory of attacking Monica, I came up with a blank.

Ellen's head dropped. And her voice went very quiet.

"I'm sorry I've never told you this, but I didn't want to tell you unless I was absolutely positive it was going to happen to you. I'm actually very surprised that you've been able to hold off for so long, and why it has only started to happen now. But now it's time to tell you the truth." I waited over-anxiously for her to continue as she paused. I'd never known she'd been keeping something from me my _whole_ life.

"You know how I told you your father… ran off when you weren't even born yet, right? And how I've never mentioned him, never talked about him?" I nodded. But I was very confused. What would my father have anything to do with this conversation? I wanted to know what was happening to me, not know why we never spoke of my real father.

"Well, there is a very good reason why I've never said anything about him to you." I nodded, urging her to continue. Where was she going with this?

"I'm just going to come right out with the truth, okay? And you have to believe me, even if you think I'm crazy." I frowned and nodded once more. She continued to look away from me as she whispered.

"Your father is a vampire," My eyes narrowed on her form, and my head jutted forward.

"What?" She sighed heavily.

"This is why I've never told you, Avery. It's really very hard to believe. But just try to believe it for a moment, okay, so I can tell you what and why it is happening to you." My eyes widened, and my head drooped slightly. It felt like I was going to start hyperventilating, but I didn't I tried to remain calm, and tried to believe my mother's insane words. Vampires are real? My father was one? How was that even possible? Vampires were myths, not real… Had my mother finally snapped under the pressure of my… condition?

"I was in love with a vampire once upon a time. His name was Edmund Hunter. We were together for awhile, but near the end of our relationship he thought that vampire-human relationships could never happen, since he was always against the idea of changing me and he was always afraid he would end up hurting me. So he left. And he left before I got the chance to tell him that I was pregnant. We didn't even think it was possible, but… it is, obviously, because you're here." She smiled at me, but it instantly disappeared as she saw my expression. I was trying to remain as calm as possible, trying to accept what she was saying. But I couldn't. It just wasn't possible. And that was saying something about how insane my mother was sounding right now, because I tended to be a very open minded person.

"So that's who you were talking to a few minutes ago?" She gasped, and looked at me with wide, surprised eyes.

"You… you heard our conversation?" I just looked at her, feeling detached.

"Only the end part. So what does this mean? Why are you all of a sudden telling me this?"

She covered her face, and turned her head away from me again. Her back was hunched over, and she looked just awful. But I couldn't feel sorry for her. I was still cut off from everything.

"It means… you're becoming a vampire, honey. I'm so sorry." Little whimpers came from her as she started to cry. And I just couldn't help it anymore. I snapped.

"How do you expect me to believe… all… all… of this? Have you finally had a mental breakdown?" Ellen ignored my harsh words and continued to cry, sobbing things such as "I know, I know sweetie… I'm so, so sorry…"

I couldn't do anything but sit there and be stunned. This wasn't happening… this _couldn't_ be happening… Vampires weren't real, and my mother would have more common sense than to sleep with a vampire.

"I'm sorry… I need a minute alone, Avery… I'll be back in a moment. I'm so sorry…" My mouth hung open as my mother exited the room quicker than I had ever seen her move before. Her hands covered her red, tear-stained face and her back was somewhat hunched as she got up and pretty much ran out of the room. I was in shock, not only because I wasn't sure if my mother had a mental breakdown, but because I'd never seen her have such a fit before.

The few minutes I expected I would have to myself, I needed to think. Hard.

If Ellen approached me with this again, I needed to prepare an answer. But I couldn't believe her, so would I tell her a little white lie to appease her, or come out with the truth that I thought she had gone crazy? That I didn't believe her?

Then without warning there was a metallic banging on the door. It was immediately followed by, "Avery Carter? Carter, are you awake? Can I ask you a few questions?"

"No! Don't! He's not ready for you yet, officer… Maine. Please, wait until tomorrow morning."

"Please, m'am this will pass a lot quicker if he's awake right now and I can talk to him."

"What will pass quicker? What! Tell me, officer, please, tell me." Suddenly my mother and the officer stepped into the room. He eyed me seriously when he saw me, and made a bee-line toward my bed.

"He seems fine enough to talk. Can you please exit the room Mrs.…Carter? I need to talk to your son alone." She shook her head violently, tears streaming down her face. But I nodded for her to go. Her tears abruptly stopped then started again in surprise.

"Honey… what are you doing?" I was staring at her very seriously, willing her to go with my eyes.

"I want to talk to him, mom. I'll be fine, just leave it to me. I'll be fine, I promise," But there was no way I could promise that, and my mom knew it. But maybe she believed me, because, with a nod, she left the room. Without a last fuss, too.

The officer was a heavy set man, looking to be in his late thirties and early forties. He looked also exceptionally tired as he took one of the plastic chairs from the wall, and took a seat beside my bed. He sat quite a distance away from me, eyeing me a little bit warily. I immediately disregarded the fact, too used to it to care much anymore.

"So… Avery. Do you remember what you did yesterday? Do you remember what you did to Miss. Monica Haines?" I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"What does she think I did to her?" I looked up at the man, looking at his face for an answer. His eyes flashed hatred as he looked at me, and I was really very surprised. I'd never gotten that reaction from someone so far.

"The victim- Monica- says you had one of your episodes again. What are those exactly? She didn't explain clearly enough." I looked away.

"It's a medical condition I have. My heart rate is very low, and my heart has been stopping a lot." The officer's piggy eyes widened.

"Really? So you've essentially died… how many times?" My eyes flashed back to his face, and after the look he saw in my eyes, which told him that it was none of his business, he backed off. My eyes on him seemed to make him nervous, and he squirmed in his chair a bit.

"Well… umm, yes. Monica said that you had one of your 'episodes' again. And then after a few minutes you seemed fine. But then as you got up, you seemed different. You told her to run, and she did. But she got only so far away before you ran after her," My brow furrowed as I tried to remember the scene this man was describing.

I delved into my memories, searching, like I had been so desperately every moment I had been awake so far.

But the last memory I had of the day before was me, pushing past everyone to get to Monica, who was running away from me. Maybe it had happened then… but in front of everyone? Wouldn't everyone have seen me… attack her? Wouldn't everyone be able to tell the officer what had happened?

"What exactly did I do to her, officer? I can't remember what happened. Just tell me." The man heaved a grunt as he shifted in his chair, leaning over so he had his head in one of his hands.

"You… you bit her neck. When the ambulance was called for her, she was almost dead. She'd lost so much blood…" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw the look on my face and in my eyes.

My eyes tightened and I glared at him. All my muscles tensed, and my hands tightened into fists.

"What did you say I did?" Each word was uttered one at a time, full of venom. The man flinched back, astounded.

I had gotten up, and had my face in his within two seconds. He immediately backed up, flinging his chair and self back, almost falling over.

His mouth was hanging open and he was looking at me with wide eyes.

"What are you?" He breathed. And that's when I really freaked out, making one of the worst decisions I could ever make.

I walked over to him quickly, probably too quickly for him to see, and grabbed his neck and pinned him to the wall.

"Well, apparently I'm a freakin' vampire!" I screamed at him. The man was gasping and struggling against my hold, but yet, as hard as he tried, the burly man couldn't break my grip.

"You've gone mad! Let me go, let me go! Help! Someone help me!" I didn't bother covering the officer's mouth. I couldn't care less if anyone came to help him.

"Mr. Carter! Let go of that man!" A nurse in light blue scrubs and brown hair in a ponytail burst into the room, her face serious yet surprised.

She attempted to pry my hand off the officer's throat, but found that she couldn't budge it. She kept trying as she shouted, "Help! Someone call security!"

"Avery! Oh, Avery! I knew this would happen, I knew it!" Ellen sobbed. I took my eyes off the still struggling man for only a few seconds to look at her face.

Her face was still covered by her hands, but her eyes weren't tear-rimmed; they were horrorstruck.

I looked back at officer Maine without remorse as more and more people poured into the room. He stopped moving only seconds later, and at the same moment I felt prick on my arm, and a drowsy feeling overcome me.

"Avery! Avery." My hand loosened and I let the man drop. My eyelids fought to stay open, but didn't succeed.

Just before I fell to the ground someone caught me, and I lost consciousness.

X XX

It seemed I was slipping in and out of awareness. I caught only little bits and pieces of conversations, but couldn't do anything else but listen.

"We can't wait till he wakes up? I wanted to say goodbye."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Carter, but he's just proven himself extremely dangerous, and we can't chance someone getting hurt again."

After that my mother started sobbing.

For the next few seconds of awareness then, my mind ran frantic, asking where I was going. Apparently I was being sent somewhere. But where?

And why wasn't my mother stopping them from sending me wherever? She hated me being in the hospital, let alone anywhere else. I couldn't think of any places at all…

"…did you hear why this guy is going to Lion's Gate?"

"No, why?"

"Well, I heard he snapped. He bit this girl's neck, almost killed her. And then when a police officer went to ask him a few questions about it, the guy attacked him. He picked him up, this man probably over three hundred pounds and three times his size, and pinned him to the wall. Then he claimed he was a vampire, and almost killed the officer too." The laughs that followed were tinged with nervousness.

I think they may have been people walking by in the hall, and they may have over exaggerated just a little. I'm sure I didn't almost kill them… did I?

The rest of what I heard was basically irrelevant. Doctor's and nurse's small talk as they came to check on me. Only sometimes would I hear Ellen murmuring incomprehensible things to herself as she sat beside me.

I was mostly drugged and kept asleep. I didn't know that they had moved me, or anything. The next time I woke up, I was in a completely different place. It was disorienting, going to sleep in one place and then waking up in a different location.

I blinked a few times, taking in the new surroundings. The room was completely white, like at the hospital, and it was very spacious with absolutely nothing in it except the bed I was laying in, a tiny barred window to the right side of the room, and a door to the left. I frowned. Why was the window barred…?

There was a fumbling at the door… the light clanging of metal, and the unlocking of the door. The door opened with a click, and revealed a pretty woman in a white lab coat. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail, and she had extremely fair skin. She had a delicate smile on her face, but the air around her was serious. She looked nice enough, but the area I was in right now wouldn't let me trust her.

She glided over to my bed, where I now narrowed my eyes in suspicion. Every movement she made, a waft of air was sent towards me. I could almost smell her… I shook my head, disgusted with myself. How could I be thinking such things? If I hadn't stopped myself, there would have been a lot worse things that would have… I shuddered. I realized I had been on the brink of losing control. Losing control of what though? My instincts? I repressed anymore that was coming to mind, and focused all my attention on the lady who was looking at me expectantly.

I would deal with the memories that had just resurfaced later, when I was alone. I put on a fake smile for her, revealing a lot of my teeth, and I saw she flinched only slightly. I restrained a sigh.

"Good afternoon Mr. Carter. How are you feeling?" I shook my head, closing my lips so she couldn't see my teeth anymore.

"I'm feeling all right. And please, don't call me Mr. Carter. Avery will be just fine."

She nodded, and looked down at a chart that I hadn't noticed she'd brought in with her.

"Well… first things first –you're probably wondering where you are right now, aren't you?" I nodded, and she continued, "You are at the Lion's Gate Mental Institution. Welcome, Avery. My name is Juliet Hopkins, and I'm your nurse. You can call me Jewel for short. I have a schedule for you here…"

She stopped, and looked at me wide eyed as she saw my expression. I was mortified, horrified, and appalled all at once. How could I end up here? I knew what I had done was pretty bad, but why was I put in a mental institution of all places? Why not jail? Was it because I had stated the truth? Because I was a vampire, though I knew no one believed me?

"Avery… are you okay?" Her voice trembled, and I almost lost it right there. Why was everyone so frightened of me?

But I calmed down in time. I sighed, and let my body loosen up from its tense and upright position –I relaxed back on to the pillow.

Her body responded by relaxing also. She looked at me expectantly.

"Sorry about that." A genuine sad, apologetic smile set itself on my face. I didn't want to explain to her –or anyone for that matter- why I had had that sudden outburst. A tiny answering smile appeared on her own lips, and then she patted me on the arm lightly. I wasn't surprised, though, when she immediately flinched back from me. I was unnaturally cold, and it definitely did not appeal to most humans. I rolled my eyes and groaned as I realized I no longer considered myself a human. Sadly, I was now grouping myself with the immortals.

Juliet looked at me like I was crazy, which now, apparently, I was classified as. I shrugged it off. Whatever. It didn't matter what the nurses thought anyway…

"Well… as I was saying, here is your schedule. We have a group session at two o'clock… which is in an hour and a bit." I looked around for a clock but found that there was none. Great. This was just like a dungeon… I wonder how long I would be here for. Unless the dungeon masters here would tell us the date, then maybe I would have to start marking the days down by carving little notches on the wall… But that probably wouldn't happen unless I used my nails, since there were absolutely no sharp objects or anything I could break in this room. The only next upgrade would be moving me to a padded room.

Would I be released when I was 'cured'? If that was the case, I would just have to make everything up to seem like I was cured, and not admit the truth, which was devastatingly and unbelievably true.

"Well, here you go. I hope you have a pleasant stay here, and please buzz me for anything." She gave me a time table on a sheet of paper, and then pointed to a red circle that looked like it was a part of the white walls, except that it was a call button that I could push when I wanted something. I glared, looking away. This place had tight security for little old me.

But then I looked up at her again.

"Are you sure this is safe to give me?" I stated, nodding at the paper. Juliet frowned at me quizzically.

Then I clarified, "Are you sure I'm not going to fold this paper up and slit my wrists with it?"

Her eyes widened with worry, and she bit her lip. It looked as if she were debating on whether or not to take the paper away from me. I snickered under my breath. She obviously didn't understand my sarcasm. What stiffs around this place…

"Well… are you seriously thinking of doing that?" I bellowed a laugh, and her eyes went even wider. Yes, lady, I am completely and utterly insane.

"Oh yes, Jewel… I hate my life; it's a swirling black abyss of utter chaos! I see dead people, and you're neon pink right now. Please let me have my paper, and let me end the madness with thin paper cuts up and down my wrists!"

She was now glaring at me, understanding my sarcasm. I'm glad I over exaggerated so she understood… I don't think it would help my case any, if she believed that I saw pretty colours all the time, and dead people walking around…

"Hardy har har –very funny. But we don't appreciate jokers around here, Avery, if you can imagine why. This is very serious, and we need you to keep it that way."

I shrugged my shoulders, and gave her a sensual grin.

"I'm sorry –whatever you say, Jewel."

Her brows set in a frustrated frown, and with pursed lips, she exited the room, leaving me behind with my thoughts.

As soon as she was gone, my eyes widened. What had I been thinking? I never, ever use sarcasm. And I never get angry, ever either.

So what was my problem?

Why was I acting like this? It just wasn't in me to think or act that way… maybe the sarcasm was just a reaction produced when I got angry… and I'd never been angry, really, to begin with so I wouldn't know what my reaction when I'm angry would be. So this was my only explanation.

I sighed and looked down at my table. I had to pull myself together if I was to survive, and hopefully one day I can get out of here.

There was recreation time, lunch time, group session, private session, movie time… it sounded almost like the timetable at an old age home I'd once volunteered at.

I let the page drop onto the blanket, and squeezed my eyes shut. What was happening to me? I already knew the answer to that question, so the only question I should be asking myself is 'what should I do about what was happening to me?'

I didn't have the faintest clue. If I 'turned' again, and attacked someone, I would most likely be institutionalised for life. Running my hands roughly through my hair, I exhaled loudly. I needed to get some fresh air –something to clear my head for a few moments.

I touched the red circle lightly, and then almost immediately the nurse blared through the speakers, "Yes?"

I flinched at how loud it was. To me myself and I, it was ear deafening… I didn't know if that was the case for anyone else, though.

"Uhh, Juliet?"

"Yes, Avery?" She sounded slightly impatient, and I knew she was frustrated that I'd used her full name. Oh well. It was a pretty name –why not use it?

"Is there any possible way I can get outside for a couple minutes? I need some fresh air."

"Yes… we have a recreation area outside. I'll be up in a few minutes to take you out." I nodded though I knew no one could see me.

"Thank-you."

She sounded a little baffled as she answered, clearly not expecting me to thank her. What –did she never get thanked for anything around here? I answered my own question; probably not, since most likely everyone staying in this building were nutcases. And now I was put in the same group as them.

"No problem… see you in a few."

Then the speaker went silent, and I got to my feet, a little shaky at first. I hadn't walked in who knows how long now. I would have to ask someone sometime.

I stretched, and then sat down on my bed once more. I couldn't tell what the future would hold for me, but I somehow knew it wouldn't be good.


	3. Chapter 3: Jailed

All right… Hi, I'm Jesca :D And this is my story 'Crossover'. It's sort of a side thing that I've been doing other than Paramour. Well anyway, I know the beginning sort of sucked n.n" and yah. But the chapters have been getting better, in my point of view anyway, so wait for something better to come. I hoped you've enjoyed this story to some extent and pwease review, I wanna know what you guys think! ;D

(hang in there Paramour fans, I'm so sorry for the delay I know all of you want to kill me :( (major sad face) )

-jesca (ethrealheartbeat)

"Now, Mr. Carter… here is the cafeteria. This is one of our last stops. I'm sure you've found everything to your liking…; your room and other areas. Jewel has told me she's taken you outside in the recreation area,"

I nodded, sighing and still looking towards the very light green linoleum tiled floors. I hated how they talked to you as if you were slow. But everyone here had mental disabilities, so I guess they were required to.

I guessed my mental disability had to do with that I had lashed out at someone and thought that I was a vampire.

A stout woman with blonde hair and dark piggy eyes named Marcy was giving me the grand tour of my prison. She'd showed me already the fair few rooms we had access to whenever we wanted. And no surprise, they were just as depressing as my own room.

There was a games room, the recreation area, the cafeteria, guidance counselling, lounging areas, visiting rooms, group session rooms, and of course the patients rooms. We could only visit half of those areas when we wanted to.

As I thought of the visiting rooms, I wondered if Ellen would pop by any time, though I highly doubted it. From some of the conversations I had drifted into before, it seemed that I was public enemy number one and a highly dangerous person.

"Hello! My name's Kendra," Someone's high, pretty, excited voice sounded in front of me. I stopped, and raised my head to see a girl standing not centimetres away from me with a big attractive smile on her fair face. I looked straight into lively bright blue eyes with my own remarkably dark blue eyes.

"Umm, Kendra deary? Do you remember what we talked about in our last session? People like their personal space,"

Kendra's expression fell slightly, and I shook my head. I was surprised our noses didn't rub together as I did so –we were standing that close.

"Don't worry about it Kendra –I don't mind."

She smiled brilliantly once more, and Marcy shot me a dangerous look. She was not in the least pleased to be contradicted by me; I might have been setting Kendra back in some sort of behavioural training that prevented her to do this to people. But for some reason I had no problem with it like most other people would have. It was weird –I would not let anyone else do it, especially because I doubted my self control now because at any time, I could do what I did to Monica.

I shuddered discreetly while Kendra went ahead and asked me a question.

"What's your name?" Her breath blew in my face as she said it. It was sweet –like strawberries.

"I'm Avery," I mumbled.

Her smile remained; she seemed excited for some reason, though maybe this was just how she always was. From what Marcy just said, it did seem like it.

At this point, Marcy seemed more than a little bit irritated that I was letting Kendra get in my personal space, and she moved forward, putting a manly hand gently on my chest to push me away slightly, creating a normal talking distance between me and Kendra.

Kendra crossed her arms, and lost the smile, adopting a pout. Her rosy lips pushed out and she frowned. I chuckled, and she looked up, regarding me with surprise.

Marcy looked at us with as wide of eyes as she could muster as well.

"Well Mr. Carter…"

I exhaled exasperatedly.

"Please call me Avery, Marcy."

Her face didn't lose the perplexed look as she went on, "Well Avery, you must be hungry. You haven't eaten in awhile, and our food here is excellent. Go sit with the others and get to know them."

Kendra brightened noticeably at that thought.

"Oh yah! Ave, you have to come in and meet some of my friends," She grabbed my hand, obviously not noticing or caring that my hand was like ice. Her soft hand shot a stream of warmth up my hand and through my arm, relaxing me…

"I'm not sure–"

"Come!" With that she pulled me through the doors and Marcy walked away with a grimace on her face.

Just before she got too far away though, I heard her mutter under her breath "Might as well get to know them. You're going to be here for awhile,"

For a moment I felt trapped, and like I wanted to turn around and knock her out, but Kendra pulled me over to a long grey table with a handful people in the same white clothes we all adorned.

There was only one person sitting at another table, by himself across the room.

She sat down, still just as close to me as she was before, our legs pressed together and little space between our arms as everyone's heads turned in our direction.

"Hey guys! Meet Avery –he's new here,''

A boy with hazel eyes, pale skin and short dark hair rolled his eyes.

"Yah I think we've all established that,"

She dismissed his snide retort with a wave of her hand, not affecting her mood in the slightest as she leaned in to whisper in my ear, "That's Bryan. He's very cynical and serious –he also hates being outside and doesn't like people that much as well."

I nodded, storing this for future reference in my head. I took this information from her as a warning, though her tone was care free and giggly. I might just have to use this information when a bad time came.

A girl next to him waved limply at me, her expression blank. She looked unbelievably dull, and it was not only her expression and the way she slouched slightly over the table, her head angled down. She looked unhealthy; her skin was ashen, and her hair was a very faded colour of brown.

Kendra leaned in to whisper again, "That's Emily. She's manic-depressive." I nodded –I had to watch what I said and did around her because she could possibly be depressed one moment and then happy-go-lucky the next moment.

Kendra looked as if she was in deep thought for a moment, and after a pause she finally spoke.

"Let's go get you some food!" She stated, attempting to get up and pull me up as well. I bit my lip and she regarded me curiously.

"Get up silly. Marcy the manly monster said you haven't eaten in awhile."

I shook my head and laughed slightly, looking up at her as she held my hand, extending my arm up.

"I'm not hungry though,"

She frowned.

"How could you not be…? Oh –maybe you're still just adjusting to everything like I had to in the beginning. I didn't eat for weeks after my parents sent me here; but I don't advise that for you. It only made the doctor see my condition as worse, and everyone here wants to get out as soon as possible, right?" She stated everything very quickly, rambling on slightly.

Some people nodded as they overheard. Others just continued in picking apart food on trays they stared at with a vacant expression. I sighed, closing my eyes.

"Let's get up, Avery; come on. They notice if you're not eating eventually, and it won't help your analysis any,"

I exhaled, slightly frustrated as I let her pull me up. She was surprisingly strong for how thin she looked.

I was not particularly happy about forcing anything down, but I guess if Kendra was telling me the truth, I needed to.

On our way over to the counters, and the people with white hair nets and uniforms on who served us food out of warming trays, Kendra named off the rest of the people sitting at the table. I retained everything she said, storing it in a mental vault in my head. If indeed I was going to be here for awhile, it was not the best idea to not know who anyone was –to be surrounded by unfamiliarity and strangers.

Once we were there, she brought the one hand that wasn't holding mine up to her face, her index finger touching just under her bottom lip thoughtfully.

"Get some salad and a cheeseburger. That is the _best_ thing today," She murmured.

I smiled slightly, not understanding how I could in the place I was in, and asked one of the ladies behind the counter for the food Kendra had suggested.

Once I had been handed it on a tray, she led me back to the table, slightly farther away from the others than before, and sat us down.

I picked up my spork with a sigh as she gave me a look, and scooped up a piece of lettuce and tomato, slowly putting it in my mouth. I grimaced at it –nothing tasted anymore, and when I could taste, it was vile.

Kendra laughed, her eyes glistening as she watched me close beside me again.

"Not a fan of vegetables?" She giggled.

I shook my head, laughing lightly with her. But I stealthily changed the subject.

"Hey, I haven't seen _you_ eat!" I complained. She rolled her eyes, smiling.

"I ate just before I met you in the hall,"

I sighed again, picking up the cheeseburger and taking a small bite out of it.

"So what are you doing after this?"

I considered as I flipped some lettuce around in the plastic container.

"Uh, I think I might go to the group session,"

Her expression brightened noticeably.

"Oh don't think you might come –do come! I'm in group session next as well."

I frowned.

"Aren't we all?"

She shook her head, her expression not slackening any.

"No, only a few people have a group session at a time. Others have different activities –otherwise there would be too many people for the doctor to handle in one room."

I nodded as Marcy walked through the doors quickly.

"Okay ladies, gentlemen, lunch is over. Please enjoy your free time or move to your next scheduled activity."

I gladly took the opportunity to get up, leaving Kendra momentarily to throw my food out. She looked at me with a blank expression and innocent eyes when I returned.

I cocked my head to the side, confused at why she was suddenly blank.

"What is it?"

She looked down briefly, and then looked back up to me with a slight smile.

"Nothing…"

And though I barely knew her, I knew something was wrong. I frowned slightly and held out a hand to her.

She took it with a bigger smile, looking away to the floor, and stood up. After another pause, she mumbled, "Well, are you going to the group session? Or am I going to have to drag you."

I laughed and she stood close beside me as we walked out, being the last people to exit.

We walked down the hall, and into another. The space between us was not much, and I could feel the heat radiating off of her. I knew this was abnormal for anyone unless you were really cold, which I wasn't. It was a perfect temperature in here for me, or anywhere since I was never really cold… unless I had one of my attacks.

She suddenly shivered, distracting me.

"Don't you find it cold in here?" She exclaimed as I looked at her. I shook my head, and her eyes widened in surprise.

Then her hand shot out towards mine, and she grabbed it, causing me to jump slightly in surprise. She only giggled, and then looked at me seriously.

"You're even colder than the air itself in here! How can you say that you're not cold," She asked in wonder, looking up at me with big blue eyes.

I only smiled slightly, and in response she smiled wider.

We arrived at the session room al too quickly, and as we walked through the door I had a nervous feeling. Like a rock in the pit of my stomach –and this was too common for me. This was only amplified as I saw two more stout nurses standing against the white sun drenched walls.

Suddenly a large man, with what looked like sort of a rectangular head, and dark brown but greyish hair, caught my attention sitting in a comfortable looking chair at the far end of a circle of mostly empty chairs.

He noticed our entrance, obviously, because he looked up from his clipboard and gave us a broad, white teethed smile.

"Well hello Mr. Carter, Kendra…" He got up from his chair and walked across the white tiled floor towards us, his arm extended as he reached me.

I shook his large hand as he continued to smile at me. In my peripheral vision I saw Kendra cast me a big, but shy smile as well.

"Please call me Avery, doctor…?"

"Call me Dr. Mackenzie,"

There was an awkward pause as he let go of my hand and watched me and Kendra with a weird look on his face. Kendra looked to the floor, looking peevish but I could take the pressure as I continued to look the doctor in the face. Kendra began to shift foot from foot, her hands clasped together loosely behind her back.

"Well… I trust you've been settled in. And it appears you've met our little Kendra."

Kendra blushed, her cheeks turning a rosy red. This caught my attention, and I was surprised how hard it was to look away from her face. I didn't know what it was… but I couldn't look away, so I tried to make it seem less apparent that I was looking at her. I only glanced from the corner of my eyes.

I nodded and the doctor smiled again.

"I'm glad to see you two are becoming friends so quickly. Well, anyway, come sit down. The session is going to begin soon. Oh, and Kendra –I expect you to help Avery if he needs it, since you've been here awhile."

Kendra looked up at the doctor before looking to me, the shy, smiling look still on her face and the colour fading out of her cheeks gradually.

I smiled faintly at her and she smiled, getting back to normal quick enough as she lightly took my hand and led me over to two chairs at the opposite end of the doctor's chair.

She sat us down and soon enough four more people filed into the room and sat down on the other chairs. No one had a smile on their faces, like Kendra always seemed to.

Dr. Mackenzie didn't waste any time getting into the session as he crossed his legs and looked at the notes he had scrawled on his clipboard.

"Hello, hello again everyone. As you may have noticed, we have a newcomer today –please, can everyone welcome Avery Carter."

"Hello Avery," Almost everyone muttered in a monotone.

I rolled my eyes –this was almost like a welcome I would get from students if I moved to a different high school.

The majority of the group I already knew –Emily, Bryan and Jasmine. The only person I did not meet before was a guy with very shaggy dirty blonde hair and a thin face. He sat almost lying out on his seat, his head down.

"Why don't we start with an exercise from the beginning of this year –let's say something about ourselves so we're all up to date. Kendra, why don't you start?"

There was a series of groans from a couple people around the room. I frowned –why would they groan that it was Kendra's turn?

Kendra looked to the ceiling, her finger pressed under her chin in thought.

"Well, I love nachos. They're my favourite food –Oh no, I also like guacamole!"

She giggled, and I looked to her with a smile and chuckled.

"Also, boys, I really like taking nice long walks on the beach… No, no, no, I'm just kidding."

Everyone rolled their eyes and I continued to be amused. She was a comedian. Everything she was saying was in a purely sarcastic tone –something the doctor obviously didn't like because he frowned and tapped his pen on the clipboard impatiently.

"But really I just like to hang around with friends, dance, read…"

The doctor nodded approvingly, smiling.

"Okay, that's good Kendra. Now what about you, Avery?"

My expression fell slightly as everyone's eyes settled on me. There was a slight pause as I froze up.

"Avery? Don't you have anything to share about yourself?" The doctor asked clinically after a moment.

I still would not speak.

"Ave… come on I'll help you. What's your favourite colour?" She asked her question louder so everyone could hear.

I looked away from the barred window that my eyes had been frozen on, and looked into her bright, wide innocent eyes. She regarded me with concern, but still with a smile.

I thought for a moment. I'd never thought, or had been asked, what my favourite colour was.

"Blue…" was all I could say as I looked into her eyes.

She smiled.

"That's a start. Where are you from?"

"Port Alberni,"

She smiled wider.

"There you go! Do you have anything else to say?"

I bit my lip and shook my head.

The doctor nodded his head slowly, watching me calculatingly.

"It's your first time, so no pressure Avery. Very good progress anyway. All right –what about you now, Robin?"

Apparently Robin was the guy who sat on the other side of me –the guy with the shaggy blonde hair.

But as he began to mumble, I spaced out, staring up at the ceiling.

I sort of began to wonder about things that I hadn't, but should have before.

How was I going to get the rest of my education if I was locked up in here? How would this affect the rest of my life? And could I even phone my mother?

"… and basically I hate the world, went 'nuts' and 'attacked' people. But you know what –I really don't care what you think. I shouldn't be here. That's all I have to say."

I started to pay attention at the end of his rant.

The doctor nodded once more, wrote a few things down, and then motioned for Emily to go.

Emily shifted, throwing her hair back behind her hunched shoulders.

"Ummm… I'm Emily Messenger. I'm eighteen, and I know I'm hated by most people just because… well I really don't know why."

By the end of the sentence she was almost sobbing. My eyes sort of widened, but I tried not to let anyone notice.

"I blame myself. I'm an awful person and no one likes me because of it–"

She broke off suddenly, straightening up. Her eyes widened so I now knew that her eyes were a light grey, and she lost some of the dullness that she had once been totally consumed by. A smile appeared on her pale pink lips.

"Actually, I don't think people should hate me at all. It's their own problem if they do, because I don't care. If they do, they're stupid, moronic, uneducated pieces of–"

"Okay Emily, okay… that's quite enough."

She smiled wider, but all of a sudden her eyes drooped and she slouched back down, looking as if she were going to cry again.

I shuddered. What kind of place was I in?

I had already known that Emily had a bipolar condition, but nonetheless I was still shocked at her sudden, dramatic changes of mood. And if she, and other people here were that bad… was I that bad as well? Could I be classified, grouped together with these particularly insane people?

But as I glanced back at Kendra I had somewhat of a hope.

I didn't even understand why she was here. Apart from the proximity she chose to be around everyone, I saw nothing wrong with her. To me she was a perfectly normal, spunky teenaged girl. So it obviously confused me as to why she was here… I guess grouped with us nutcases.

I smirked in dark humour. Oh great –I had just been complaining in my head that I was grouped with a bunch of lunatics, but once I compared Kendra to everyone else, I grouped myself with the nut jobs. That was just perfect…

On another thought I made a mental note to ask Kendra why she was here. It confused me to no end.

The doctor continued to talk to us, and other people talked with him as well, but I spaced out once more, thinking about everything.

One of the main things was though, what if I had another attack? And I hurt someone again? What would they do to me, and … was I really a vampire? Could I possibly but illogically be an immortal?

It was preposterous, and I was immediately revolted by the thought but… how else could I explain things?

I was so confused about everything. Nothing really made any sense.

First it was just attacks -'heart attacks' I meant. And then I guess it turned into something else, though I didn't remember any of it, or I didn't know why.

Or maybe I really was going insane, and I had imagined all my mother had said to me, and attacked the officer and Monica because I just had a mental condition. I didn't know anything, but I needed to find out. I hated questioning my sanity constantly just because some doctor, or court, labelled me as insane.

"All right guys and gals. This ends our group session for today, and I'm glad to see we've made some progress. Please hastily attend your next scheduled activity and have a good afternoon."

Kendra took my hand automatically as she stood up, pulling me up after her. A smile pulled at the corners of my lips, and Kendra beamed back before she poked her head to the side of me so she could see the doctor.

"Bye Dr. Mackenzie! I'll see you in an hour or so," She crowed excitedly.

I heard the doctor laugh heartily.

"Yuppers, I'll see you soon Kendra dear. Same with you Mr. Avery –right after Kendra's session with me, you're up."

I half grimaced, my back still turned to him. Kendra turned and began walking with me soon after that.

"So Mr. Avery what are you doing next?"

I raised my eyebrow at her as she called me 'Mr. Avery' –obviously making fun of the doctor– before I answered her.

"I guess I have a period now where I get to do whatever I want. Well, _basically _anything I want…"

I mumbled that part so she couldn't hear, but she grinned anyway.

"I have a free period as well –well I think everyone in our group session has a free period right now, but I was just checking to make sure that you didn't have to do something else,"

She said the latter part of her sentence bashfully. And I could do nothing but smile: something I thought I really would never do, but had been doing ever since I met Kendra, in a mental institution.

"So what is there exactly to do here? I know there're areas where we can do things… but do you actually ever do those things?"

She shrugged her shoulders, looking up towards the ceiling.

"You know, I really never thought about it. I just do whatever I feel like doing I guess. But if you don't want to do any of that stuff, do you want to just sit and talk? It's about as much as you can do besides anything else they provide you with."

I nodded my head, slightly sideways. She turned us around, leading me behind her with her hand.

I raised a brow once more.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to my room you silly head! Where else are we going to talk and not be spied on? There are nurses and patients everywhere but our rooms, if you haven't noticed,"

I guessed she was right… but were we allowed in other patients' rooms?

It seemed like she heard my thoughts, because she immediately answered my question.

"And no, we're not usually allowed to have visitors, even if they're just other patients, in our rooms. But who's going to stop us?" She remarked with an almost devilish smile.

Wow –a rule breaker now.

We arrived at another door, not much unlike my own, and she opened it quickly and hustled us in, closing the door just as hastily.

Then she let out a big sigh and let a relaxed smile spread across her face.

"Ah, home again, home again…" She murmured, and let go of my hand to walk over and lie down on the bed.

I stood there for a moment, biting my lip, not really knowing how to proceed. So I just began to talk.

"How could you say 'home again, home again," in a place like this? Or was your old house like a mental health facility?"

She laughed bubbly and shook her head, patting the blanket beside her –an invitation for me to sit down beside her.

I moved hesitantly towards the bed and when I got there I guess she was just too impatient –she pulled me down beside her by the hand.

"No, not at all. I used to have a very nice, cozy log cabin home out in the middle of no where. True, I didn't like being out in the middle of the forest all the time, but rather I wanted to be with friends… Though, I still loved it. My parents loved it there too…"

She trailed off suddenly, her eyelids drooping slightly as if she was about to fall asleep.

But her head bounced back up and she smile once more instead of dreamily looking off into space.

"Well anyway, I like making the best of situations if you can see Avery. Do you think I really enjoy being here that much? If I had the choice, like many of us wish we had, I would be back at my log cabin with my mom and dad."

My eyes narrowed slightly.

"And that brings us to why you're here exactly. To tell the truth, I don't really see anything wrong with you."

She smiled and blushed, causing my eyes to lock on her once more.

"Thank you for that… but I know why I'm here, and I don't know if I'm ready to tell you right yet."

She tapped me on the nose lightly with her index finger, and I nodded, understanding.

"I think I do, and don't know why I'm here. I'm all very confused about things."

She puckered her lips and frowned slightly.

"Would you care to elaborate on that?"

I thought for a moment, my eyes aimed at the white ceiling.

"Well… Are you ready for whatever you hear? Because if you scare easy, I don't think I'm quite ready to tell you either."

She raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Bring it."

I chuckled lightly before sobering up just as quickly.

"Well I have these… attacks. Heart attacks really, and it's where my heart stops for five seconds to a minute, and I wake up perfectly normal after. It scares everyone, and I don't even mean for it to happen."

She nodded, looking like she was deeply interested and not freaked out in the least… yet.

"And the last time I had one of these attacks I… I actually physically got up, my heart still not beating, and hurt someone I cared about. I don't know how and why but it happened and… well I can't do anything to stop it. I've been questioning my sanity on really what happened the whole time I've been here, and I have been thinking, hey maybe I have schizophrenia and hallucinated the whole thing and that's why I'm here now."

She nodded, and I was surprised to see that she didn't have the least bit of fear on her face.

"I understand. I know when we're here we all question our sanity… and I'm sorry to hear what you're going through. It must be tough. I don't know how you haven't broken down yet."

I grimaced and nodded.

And suddenly, before I knew it, she had her arms wrapped around me, her face pressed against my arm as I sat, momentarily frozen and horrified.

Her warmth coursed through me, and I felt so weird all of a sudden –almost feral.

Seconds later I broke away from her, moving to the end of the bed. She regarded me with confused, sad eyes.

"What is it?" She murmured, her voice sounding almost heartbroken.

I scrunched my eyes closed and wrapped an arm around myself, my head lowered. I could still feel the warmth from her face being pressed against my arm.

"I'm sorry… I just don't really trust myself anymore. After that last attack, well… it could happen at any time, and I don't know specifically when. I don't want to hurt you."

I could not believe I had just admitted that to her. I didn't even really want to admit it to myself… and I'd definitely known myself longer than I knew her. I'd only known her for maybe a few hours now and I'd just told her some major things. But oddly, I felt as if I could trust her.

Her expression alleviated slightly.

"Oh –it's all right. I just say, hey what else bad can happen to me? Bring it on world, because I don't really care what happens further. After all, I think the worst thing I could have ever done was end up here. There's only a slight possibility of me getting out, and what do I have after that? My parents, if I'm lucky."

I looked down, and scooted slightly over where I put my arm around her shoulders lightly.

She pressed her face into my collar bone and I sighed as I felt the warmth from her. Vaguely in the back of my mind, I knew this couldn't possibly be comfortable for her. I was ice cold and I was surprised that she never flinched away.

I was just like her though. I would be lucky if I got out of here, and I didn't know what my parents would say anymore. I guess I would just try to take it like Kendra –go with the flow, and keep your mouth shut about it.

x

"All right now Avery. Why don't you take a seat and we can talk about a few things."

I nodded, my eyes shaded as I took a seat and slumped in the chair, looking in the direction of the deep red carpet of the floor of Dr. Mackenzie's office.

I heard him shuffle some papers on his desk, but I didn't look up to see what he was doing. I was rather depressed now.

"Now, Avery, Avery… would you like me to address any concerns of yours? Do you have any problems you need to talk with me about?"

One side of my mouth pulled up as I thought. I could tell how hollow and depressed I looked even without a mirror.

"Well now that you mention it I do have a few questions for you doctor."

He stopped shuffling papers so he could hear me –I spoke in a low monotone.

"Go on," He encouraged after I stopped speaking.

I sighed. I hated being talked to like I was slow.

"Is it possible that I can see my mother any time soon? Or talk with her on the phone at all?"

He tutted, and I glanced up without moving anything but my eyes.

He looked like he was thinking for a moment before he answered.

"Well Avery… you are a different case indeed. But the way we work here is that with good behaviour and improvement the more you earn. So in this situation, I can let you talk on the phone with your mom in a few days with good behaviour, and within a couple weeks you can have visits with her."

I nodded, looking away once again. This was almost like a prison rather than a institution.

"But in order to get better, Avery, I need to know why you think you're here. Can you tell me in your own words why you think you're here?"

I didn't even have to hesitate to answer.

"I don't know."

He tutted again.

"Now Avery, you must have some idea why you're here. No one just dumped you here for any reason."

I sighed discreetly once more.

"Well I don't remember what happened exactly. I do remember being told what I had done though, and I couldn't really believe it. I woke up thinking, oh it's just one of my attacks again, and then someone told me what happened… and I don't know anymore. It doesn't make sense."

He nodded shortly.

"And you say you remember nothing at all?"

I grimaced again, not particularly happy about someone prying into things, and not particularly happy about having to say something I already said over again.

"Yes, I already mentioned I don't remember any of it. I feel perfectly sane, but I'm being treated like I'm insane and it's really starting to affect me. Ever since my eighteenth birthday, people have been acting like I'm strange."

He nodded again, all his attention focused on me.

"Your eighteenth birthday you say?"

I heaved a gruff sigh.

"Yah."

"And that was when the attacks started?"

"Yah."

He nodded once more.

"And why do you think these attacks started to happen? Did the doctor say –do you have a condition?"

"The doctors were baffled that I have been able to survive this long. They think it's possible that I could drop dead any moment, but I feel as lively as ever. It just happens out of the blue sometimes, and I come back to life like a reanimated corpse. I'm perfectly fine after my heart has stopped for a minute or so."

The doctor looked bewildered as I told him all this.

"So it's most likely that in your time here, this could happen?"

I nodded.

"Most likely."

He wrote something down on a pad of paper, and I raised an eyebrow, the rest of my expression remaining stoic.

"So what doctor? Am I insane –do I have schizophrenia and you're just leading me on to believe that everything that I believe happened has happened? Because everything, for me right now, is impossibly insane. And I want to know if I'm crazy and should keep questioning my sanity."

He laughed darkly.

"No, I assure you I've been told everything that has happened Avery. You don't have to question your sanity there –but I'm not sure about the rest. And no, at the moment I don't think you have schizophrenia, but I'm not ruling it out in the end. We'll have to figure out what's happening in there when you have these attacks. Do you expect one soon?"

I shook my head and he stood up, walking over to the other side of his desk where I sat in a comfy green seat.

I got up as well and shook his hand. He patted me on the back.

"I'll be seeing you at our next group session tomorrow."

I breathed out slowly and nodded before I turned around and exited his office.

Wow –what a day.


End file.
